by Greg | October 30, 2012

When you think Halloween or horror, one of the first things that pops into most peoples’ heads is of course Charlie’s Angels. Ok that’s a dirty lie. Charlie’s Angels typically had little to do with the horror genre. In fact the few times the seminal 70′s cop show tried to be scary (Haunted Angels, Of Ghosts and Angels) it failed miserably. Sure, a few victims (and Angels) were POV slasher-type affairs, but usually directed sloppily and featuring ho-hum bad guys as opposed to unstoppable killing machines like Michael or Jason. Truly scary Angel moments were few and far between and when something disturbing did appear on screen it was usually unintentional and more along the lines of shirtless Bosley than a well-executed spooky sequence. But this didn’t stop the show and its stars and many guest stars from contributing greatly to the horror landscape of the 70′s and early 80′s. We here at TA have compiled 13 moments/movies/actors in horror that relate to both Charlie’s Angels and the horror genre. These might not be the scariest, most iconic or even the 13 greatest moments in horror history, but they are without a doubt the TOP 13 CHARLIES ANGELSEST MOMENTS IN HORROR!

#13 - FREDDY VS. KRIS!

ACTOR: Robert Englund

#12 – Night of the Strangler

ACTRESS: Jaclyn Smith

 # 11 - DRACULA IN HIDING

ACTOR: Christopher Lee
ANGEL CRED: Angels in Hiding

HORROR CRED: Really?

 

Christopher Lee was in The Mummy (1959) as the Mummy, The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) as Frankenstein’s monster, and Horror of Dracula (1958) as Dracula, among other horror classics so when he popped up as a shady modeling agency owner in 1980′s Angel In Hiding he didn’t seem so monstrous.
 

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#10 - QUEEN BEE

ACTRESS: Kate Jackson

 ANGEL CRED: Sabrina Duncan leader of Charlie’s Angels 1976-1979

HORROR CRED:  Killer Bees (1974)

 

Kate Jackson starred along Gloria Swanson is this 1974 TV movie about an elderly matriarch (Swanson) that has telepathic control over a swarm of killer bees and uses them to terrorize her family (including daughter-in-law-to-be Jackson). Sort of like a TV movie version of The Swarm!
 

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#9 - CHIP DIES AGAIN AND AGAIN

ACTOR: Scatman Crothers

ANGEL CRED: Angels in Vegas (1978)

Horror Cred: The Shining (1980)

 

God the end of Scatman Crothers’ career (and life) consisted of him playing the wise old sage to iconic actors (Dean Martin in Charlie’s Angels and Jack Nicholson in The Shining) and then being horribly murdered before the end credits. What? They were out of lifetime achievement awards?
 

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#8 - NO FIREPLACE IN THE BEACHOUSE

ACTRESS: Farrah Fawcett

ANGEL CRED: Jill Munroe on Charlie’s Angels (1976-1980)

HORROR CRED: Extremities (1986)

 

While the film adaption of the hit Broadway play Extremities was less horror and more psychological thriller, the home invasion/revenge aspect of the story definitely had slasher tropes and we had to get Farrah on this list somehow. Her character in the film proves more than a match psychically as well as psychologically when pitted against would-be rapist Joe (played by James Russo). She beats him up and holds him hostage in her fireplace after a home invasion gone wrong. The film co-stars Alfre Woodard and Diana Scarwid.
 

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#7 - OF GHOSTS AND ANGEL

Actress: Kate Jackson

ANGEL CRED: She was Sabrina come on!

HORROR CRED: Dark Shadows

 

One of Jackson’s first acting roles was starring in the 1970-1971 season of the supernaturally themed cult soap Dark Shadows as ghost Daphne Harridge. She would return to the realm of the not quiet alive a few years later in a TV movie version of Topper (1979) once again playing a ghost.
 

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#6 - HITTING JASON IN THE HEAD WITH AN AXE IS HER TALENT

Actress: Dana Kimmel

ANGEL CRED: Appeared in Pretty Angels All in a Row during Season 2

HORROR CRED: Starred as Final Girl Chris Higgins in Friday The 13th part 3 (1983)

 

Dana played beauty contestant Ms New York who actually beat both Kris and Kelly for the title of Miss Chrysanthemum by twirling a baton and reciting Shakespeare (well sort of, the judges where instructed not to vote for the Angels, but still). 5 years later she traded in her baton for an axe and promptly buried it in Jason’s forehead in the slasher classic Friday The 13th part 3!

 

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 #5 – To See an Angel Die

ACTRESS: Tanya Roberts

HORROR CRED: 1979 horror hit Tourist Trap
ANGEL CRED: Tanya Roberts played Angel Julie Rogers during the 1980-81 season of Charlie’s Angels

 

Final Angel Tanya Roberts played not-so-final-girl Becky in the creepy cult classic Tourist Trap in 1979. Wanna see her die?
 

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#4 - SURVIVED MICHAEL MEYERS, SUCCUMBED TO INGA

ACTRESS: Nancy Stephens
HORROR CRED: Halloween, Halloween 2, Halloween H2o
ANGEL CRED: Season 1′s The Killing Kind

Nancy popped up as nosey soggy doomed journalist Brooke Anderson in the first epiosde of Charlie’s Angels filmed: the Killing Kind. She was drowned by butch Swiss Miss-looking assassin Inga in the first five minutes of the show, playing Nurse Marion assistant to Sam Loomis (Donald Pleacance) and adversary to Michael Meyers in the first two Halloween movies. Nancy portrayed a feisty and resilient opponent for The Shape. She also appeared briefly in Halloween H2o but her neck was slit in the first five minutes of the movie. 

 

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 #3 - THEY ALWAYS FALL FOR THE BAD GUY

ACTRESS: Shelley Hack

HORROR CRED She starred in the cult classic The Stepfather (1987). She also co-starred in a forgettable Tales from the Crypt but it was forgettable so who cares

ANGEL CRED: She played brainy beauty Tiffany Welles in the fourth Season of Charlies Angels (1979-80)

 

The Stepfather was a small-budget, well-acted, extremely creepy little suburban horror flick that made a cult icon out of star Terry Oquinn as the title character, a perfectionist suburban dad who literally disposes of his family when they begin to disappoint him. Shelley plays his latest wife who, along with her daughter (played by scream queen Jill Schoelen) is forced to take on the psychopath she promised to love, honor and obey.
 

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 #2 - STILL STALKED..BY A CROC!

ACTRESS: Jamie Lee Curtis
HORROR CRED: She’s the scream queen. In just 3 years she starred in Halloween 1 and 2, The Fog, Terror Train and Prom Night surviving each and every movie as the final girl.
ANGEL CRED: Third Season episode Winning is For Losers (1978)

 

One of her first projects after Halloween was guest starring as one of the Angels’ more likeable friends, golf phenom and Kris Munroe pal in Winning is For Losers (1978). This episode is famous for the scene in which, in an effort to protect Jamie Lee, Cheryl Ladd actually wrestles an alligator.
 

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#1 - ”GOOD EVENING DEMONS, I HAVE AN ASSIGNMENT FOR YOU”

 MOVIE: Satan’s School For Girls!

 HORROR CRED: Early 70′s cult classic TV movie

 ANGEL CRED: Starring Angels Kate Jackson and Cheryl Ladd, co-starring Angels guest star Lloyd Bochner, produced by Aaron Spelling.

 

Three years before Charlie’s Angels debut and four years before they worked together as Angels, Kate Jackson and Cheryl Ladd starred in the cult classic TV movie Satan’s School for Girls. Which fortunately was located directly across the street from God’s School for Guys so they kinda cancelled each other out. Jackson and Ladd co-starred as doomed classmates and cultmates Roberta and Jody, who in the end sacrifice themselves to Satan. Oh, and just make this depressing cheesy chiller even more Angelsesqe, guest star Lloyd Bochner (Angels Belong in Heaven, Angel Hunt) also stars and the movie was produced by Aaron Spelling! Kate Jackson appeared again in the rather weak sequel in 2000.

Sorry for the lack of updates on the forum situation – I have little idea what’s been happening, either. Here’s what’s going on so far.

Our forum at townsendagency.19.forumer.com randomly went down a couple of weeks ago, and Forumer support explained that they had some hardware problems on three of their servers. Eventually the answer came back that none of the data could be recovered. They didn’t do backups and would never give forum owners a way to back it up ourselves, so neither we, nor the countless other people with forums on the affected servers, are ever getting our stuff back. I’m sorry to have to pronounce the Townsend Agency forum dead just after its 6th birthday. 

Since everything is wiped, not only is all of our content gone, but I have no records of members’ contact information, which is why I’ve been unable to send out a mass email explaining what’s going on. 

If you visit the forum now, you’ll see that it redirects to a new forum which was automatically set up in its place: http://townsendagency.yuku.com/.  For now, I’m not encouraging anyone to join it. We will be starting over with a new forum soon, however you can probably understand why I’m hesitant to start over with this service. I want to explore some other options, and will keep you posted.

For questions/suggestions/concerns in the meantime, feel free to write to forum@charliesangels.org, talk to us on Facebook, or comment below. 

Anna / KMunroe

Angel in the Spotlight: A Look at Solo Episodes and Angel Screen Time | by Anna | September 12, 2012

This debacle of an article began with my complaint that Sabrina never got a true solo episode. Solos aren’t my favorite, but that still annoys me. We got more Kris and Kelly angst than we know what to do with; Tiffany had a few decent spotlights; Jill stole the show whenever she visited; Julie had the big premiere and logged some quality time in Hawaii; even Bosley reserved an adventure of his own. As the best actress of the bunch (according to then-critics and herself) wasn’t Kate Jackson deserving of one measly hour of attention? When WAS her biggest spotlight, anyway?

I timed a few Sabrina-heavy episodes and found that the answer is Angels on a String, where she spends about 13 more minutes on screen than each of the other Angels. Okay, so what? For comparison, I checked Angel on my Mind, which is like ALL Kris, right? She has a whopping… barely 5 more minutes than the others. Wait, what?

Then – sigh – I had to know the whole truth. Whenever I watched an episode, I took a moment to add up its time. Here, at last, are the answers to questions that have tormented you ever since the beginning of this sentence.

Which Angel got the most of the spotlight?
This show totally has a thing for blondes. Depending how you look at it, you can make a case for three Angels being the winner – Jill by averages, Kris by bulk, and Tiffany by degree of solitude (though much like her fighting prowess, Tiff’s case makes sense on a calculator but not in your heart. I’ll explain.) Forced to choose a single answer, I’d say it leans towards Jill.

And then the Angel given the least of the spotlight is Julie, or in some ways Tiffany. Yes, I meant to put Tiffany on both lists. Mildly intrigued?

Solo Syndrome

If you’ve ever felt like Charlie’s Angels began as a perfect three-pronged attack and then steady dissolved into a rotation of Lifetime featurettes, that’s because it did. 

Solo episodes are usually explained as the result of the cast’s desire for time off. When one Angel’s kidnapped or tripping out on her lonesome, the other two barely have to contribute anything. And after a few years of 14-hour workdays, you better believe you’d want a break, too. 

Director Dennis Donnelly suggests that Ed Lakso’s writing style is also to be thanked. “I thought those were better written,” Donnelly said of the Lakso solos (Laksolos?) he worked on, including Angel’s Child and Angel on a Roll. “They could develop the character better if you concentrated on one.”

True, it is hard to grow one character when she’s getting a carefully measured 1/3 share of attention, so sometimes it’s nice to bond with one at a time. If nothing else, a tighter focus shakes up the potentially monotonous formula (be honest, if all 109 episodes were perfectly balanced, we’d all be complaining that they should have focused sometimes). Perhaps the best thing about solos is that they present some of the best opportunities to see the Angels actually getting to act, rather than just read lines as themselves. 

“As for my role of Kelly, it doesn’t give me that much to do,” Jaclyn Smith said in a 1978 interview, at end of the second season. “Everything dissipates on the show because they try to divide everything equally among the three girls. I’d rather have them feature a different one of us each week, with the other two doing less.” 

Dreams do come true! You’ll often find Jaclyn naming Avenging Angel as her favorite episode because it gave her a meatier role than usual. (Then again, sometimes she says Angels in Chains.)

Solo episodes got solo-er.
Let’s look back at Angel on my Mind, which people generally agree to be the first solo. Kris and her amnesiac beach wanderings take up roughly 26 minutes, while Kelly and Sabrina get 21. Not the landslide it feels like by the time you’ve wandered off in search of a snack to compliment Kris’ hobo stew. In my opinion, this is a great structure for a solo episode: while one Angel is definitely in the foreground, the ones in the background are still getting a healthy amount of involvement.

Quickly though, the solos increase in both frequency and severity. The last definite one is Kris again – Angel on a Roll. She spends 29 minutes seducing that guy in Vegas, while the others barely scrape 11 minutes apiece. That’s neither a fluke, nor the worst example. And time isn’t the only problem – in the later solos, the two in the background aren’t usually even doing anything. They’re either sitting around worrying about the featured Angel who’s in mortal peril, or phoning from afar just long enough to share a few exposition lines.

So the Angels never got “more” attention than usual in their solo episodes; it’s just that the non-featured ones started getting way, waaay less. 

Charlie’s Angels‘ suddenly soapier plots in 1979 (maybe the result of peer pressure from CBS’ Dallas and Knots Landing) started to put one Angel in personal crisis on a regular basis. But why can’t more than one at a time experience extreme emotions? Pretty much the only one like that is One Love… Two Angels, and of course that’s the one time they’re having emotions against each other.  It’s like the best dramatic parts, almost as a rule, come at the expense of camaraderie. 

Whatever happened to ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’? In my opinion, so frequently giving one Angel the whole spotlight isn’t the best idea, simply because it works against the nature of the show. It’s beloved for its teamwork and chemistry, which tend to require more than one participant. Sure, you’ll get some memorable moments, but outside those it sometimes feels lacking. Today, it’s no big deal – if it’s an unfavorite episode, you just choose a different one on your DVD. But at the time, weren’t they risking two-thirds of the audience changing the channel?

To me, Charlie’s Angels is like a BLT. All the parts work deliciously together, pretending to fall in love with your hunger and then sending it to prison. But sometimes the waiter brings you a B or L or T sandwich. It’s not technically what you ordered, although if it’s the bacon, you might still eat it without complaint, because bacon is your favorite part anyway.  But other times it’s just the lettuce, and not that lettuce is without its merits, but what kind of meal is that? 

I can’t help but wonder if they indulged in solos later on because chemistry wasn’t the best anyway, so they figured we wouldn’t be missing much. Or was it the other way around – did the chemistry, and the show overall, suffer at the hands of all the solo episodes?  Of course it’s not the only factor, but the solo explosion sorta coincided with the show’s decline in ratings. Make of that what you will.

You can go make yourself a BLT now, but then come back and we’ll compare some episodes on the next page.

]]> http://charliesangels.org/articles/townsend-articles/angel-in-the-spotlight.html/feed 9 http://charliesangels.org/articles/townsend-articles/top-10-gayest-moments.html http://charliesangels.org/articles/townsend-articles/top-10-gayest-moments.html#comments Mon, 27 Aug 2012 22:10:04 +0000 bosley http://charliesangels.org/?p=5673

Despite amazing leaps forward in pop culture during the 70's, gay and lesbians still more often than not were depicted in (at best) stereotypical and (at worst) offensive manners on movies and television.]]>

Top 10 Gayest Moments on Charlie’s Angels | by Greg | August 28, 2012

Despite amazing leaps forward in pop culture during the 70′s, gay and lesbians still more often than not were depicted in (at best) stereotypical and (at worst) offensive manners on movies and television. Charlie’s Angels, despite a huge gay fan base, sadly was no exception. After careful scientific analysis with some of the top psychologists, doctors and cultural media commentators in the world… ok, that’s a dirty lie, I watched a few episodes and compiled what I feel is the list of the ten gayest moments of Charlie’s Angels. And yes it’s Kanu, and it’s Maxine not Max little chicken… 

#10:  Fuchsia + magenta = fabulous

Episode: Angels on Ice 
Gay cliché: Ultra sensitive swishy queen 
Intentional, Unintentional or Subversive: Intentional 
Positive or Negative Portrayal: Mostly negative

Kris and Kelly are able to con their way onto a professional ice skating team by simply complimenting Alvin on his fashion and cologne. Because you know, compliment a gay man’s fashion and fragrance, and all his professional integrity and common sense go all out the window. On a positive note, at least he was a professional choregrapher with apparently some measure of success and he kinda seemed to half ass feel sorry for Kris so… 

#9:  A hole in one

Episode: Winning is for Losers 
Gay cliché: Um well, women’s golf 
Intentional, Unintentional or Subversive: Unintentional 
Positive or Negative Portrayal: Positive

I know I know, neither Jamie Lee Curtis’ character nor Kris were supposed to be lesbians in Winning is for Losers, but the episode is about women’s professional golf AND it features Jamie Lee Curtis. These things simply can’t be ignored. Well they can be ignored, but they will be celebrated here! Plus extra lesbian points for the testosterone-fueled battle to the death Kris had wresting a freakin alligator to protect her “friend”. We have seen a few Angel friends (most annoying) and we have seen some in jeopardy, but never has say Sabrina’s friend Angela or Kelly’s friend Sally received the type of fierce protection that Jamie Lee was afforded by Ms. Munroe. Most of Kris’ other friends introduced on the show end up dead buried under a sandcastles but not Jamie Lee… 

#8:  More like gay corduroy

Episode: Angels on the Run 
Gay cliché: Bitchy dishy queen (who is also a dressmaker) 
Intentional, Unintentional or Subversive: Totally intentional
Positive or Negative Portrayal: Both 

While searching for clues/witnesses to solve the case during Season 2′s Angels on the Run, Kris comes across “Roger” the dress maker while dining at Rosie’s Chili. Not only does Roger have the gayest name ever, but he’s a dress maker (natch) and of course a a big ol gossip. Kris doesn’t have to so much pump him for info (don’t) it’s more like she sits next to the info geyser and allows it to wash over her. This was one of those times where being a clichéd nosey dishy gay man served the Angels (and humanity) well, as Roger saw what happened and had no problem telling folks. Of course this being a Charlie’s Angels script, the writers could not help but find a way to subtly insult Roger’s implied sexuality via a cheap shot from Kris. When Roger compliments Kris’ looks and says she would look wonderful in a new gray corduroy pantsuit he just designed, Kris responds by saying she thinks HE would look good in it. He’s gay, not a drag queen, Kris. Bitch.

#7:  If I can’t have a Farrah ‘do, neither can you

Episode: Lady Killer
Gay Cliché: Lesbian house mother/demented drag queen 
Intentional, Unintentional or Subversive: Subversive
Positive or Negative Portrayal: Negative

In Lady Killer, former Feline Paula ends up being a crazy serial killer of blonde centerfolds. It turns out that Paula, after a tragic car accident that scarred her face and burned her hair off, lost her mind and decided the best way to make sure other centerfolds avoided a similar fate was to kill them. While Paula didn’t seem to be set up as a clichéd lesbian character, she did have a very gay moment with Jill – when Paula drugs and pets the blonde Angel’s hair, Jill seems uncomfortable and flinches. The big reveal at the end? That Paula wears a wig and is really bald and scarred. This reveal should have been that she was really a man in drag 4 seasons before Angel on the Line did it, because becoming a murderer of blonde haired centerfolds simply because you had your hair burned off in an accident is such a demented drag queen thing to do!

#6:  If it’s not me, it’ll be them

Episode: Caged Angel
Gay Cliché: Butch prison bully 
Intentional, Unintentional or Subversive: LOL! 
Positive or Negative Portrayal: Negative 

Big Aggie was scary. She steals Kris’ money and perfume (in prison) and hammers home the point time and time again that Kris is hers if she wants her. She pretty much sums up the clichéd aggressive prison bull dagger so often portrayed in those soft porn prison exploitation flicks in the 70′s. Aggie was big and mean and ugly and scary, but on a positive note she did help mastermind a behind-the-bars theft ring for a while, so at least she was motivated. 

#5:  Care to… switch teams?

Episode: Angels in the Backfield 
Gay Cliché: Ultra sensitive swishy queen 
Intentional, Unintentional or Subversive: I say unintentional, but slightly subversive 
Positive or Negative Portrayal: Negative 

Sabrina, Sabrina, Sabrina. You were the only married Angel (twice!) yet for some reason you always found yourself in suspect and/or compromising positions that at best made you seem asexual. Well, just watch every interaction in this episode with rival football coach Ms Julia Smyth with a Y. What the director was going for in their odd, intense drawn-out scenes together is unclear, but what seemed to come across was a TV version of Personal Best (look it up!) 
 

#4:  A pretty little neck

Episode: Angels in Springtime 
Gay Cliché: Predatory creepy lesbian bad guys 
Intentional, Unintentional or Subversive: Intentional 
Positive or Negative Portrayal: Negative 

Angels in Springtime sums up every negative cliché concerning lesbians that so often appeared on Charlie’s Angels and television in general in the 70′s. Kelly barely unpacks her bags when creepy Dr. Slavin is already making moves on her, complimenting her beauty and quasi feeling her up, all the while attempting to drug and blackmail her. So although they were depicted as creepy, aggressive, violent lesbians who preyed on their guests of their spa, Slavin was able to do her thing while her partner-in-crime and partner-in-flannel-shirts Zora watched through a peep hole, so a couple points for multitasking? By the way Zora, a spiritual sister to Big Aggie is the only character on the series run to ever back hand an Angel in the face. Of course it was Kris. 

#3:  Inflamed dancing spaceman

Episode: Toni’s Boys
Gay Cliché: All male strippers seem gay 
Intentional, Unintentional or Subversive: Unintentional 
Positive or Negative Portrayal: Who cares.

It was just annoying. Not only did this moment occur during one of the worst episodes of the series run (Toni’s Boys – which I’m sorry but the very idea of 3 male “Angels” seemed gay as hell) but when Kris witnesses the dancing spaceman…well, I think that was horror and disgust she was trying to convey, not embarrassment. Nothing worse than a gay stripper who can’t freaking dance. 
 

#2:  Man, this nightclub is a drag

Episode: Angel on the Line 
Gay Cliché: Psychotic drag queen 
Intentional, Unintentional or Subversive: Intentional 
Positive or Negative Portrayal: Oh just awful 

I say the only type of drag queen worth her pumps is a psychotic drag queen, but hey, that’s just me. Most drag queens are indeed psychotic but they tend to leave it all on the dance floor. Not Margo. The thing is… Margo actually was more of a female impersonator than a drag queen. And she actually seemed to successfully fool people and live life as a woman even though she was so obviously a man… in drag. Seasoned detective Kelly was fooled and terrified and helpless when dealing with a mannish drag queen. Margo was made helpless once she fell into a puddle because as you know, drag queens lose all psychotic power once their stocking is torn and mascara runs. Sigh to the 100th power.

 #1:  Oddly yes, I was just sprayed yesterday

Episode: Angels in Chains 
Gay cliché: Butch lesbian prison guard 
Intentional, Unintentional or Subversive: Subversive 
Positive or Negative Portrayal: Even though she wore a badge, negative

Angels in Chains is one of the most popular, defiantly most infamous episodes of the series run. Talk about a high concept idea, “Angels go to prison” – from that very pitch lesbian tones organically arise out of the situation. And the producers knew it. Max (Maxine) is the corrupt lead prison guard that famously sprays the Angels upon their arrival at Pine Parish prison. Just in case the lesbianesque nature of her character was not apparent from that scene, and a comment she makes about how hot Jill is, she also goes out of her way to correct a male colleague who leers at her and calls her Max. “It’s Maxine”. We know your name is Maxine, Max. Because you’re a girl. You know a character is supposed to be gay when they have to keep reminding you that they have a girl’s name, so indeed must be female. I am not a yo-yo!